Nate, the problematic project file should be attached. I've manually reset the root scales in keyframe 1 so that is not an issue to track the hide image bug.
My issue #1 (animations inverted) has been partially resolved manually but requires a bug fix on your side. When I opened this uploaded project (created in 1.08) with 1.09, the root scales changed and didn't match what was built in 1.08. 1.09 changed the root scale in all animations from .03 to -.94. The negative value was inverting the animation. I didn't notice this at first and when I reset the keyframe 1 root scale to .03 in all animations, they were properly aligned and scaled.
The bug would be with projects created in 1.08 and opened in 1.09, the root scales in keyframes are changed and I had to reset manually. This should be addressed. This would be no big deal if my root scales are only set in keyframe 1, but if changed/set in other keyframes becomes a lot of work.
EDITED below!
My issue #2 (hiding images) is what the uploaded project file should reproduce. It kicks the lua error and crashes simulatior. FYI, the Jump1 animation tries to hide the "RocketLauncherActive" image instance and kicks the error crashing the Corona simulator. the Jump2 animation has the "RocketLuancherActive" image instance set to "visible" and does not kick the error and runs as expected. Hopefully your fix in Version 1.11 should handle this.
Updated info to issue #2 below"
I've just noticed something that may help to debug.
If I launch the Corona simulator and FIRST play the "Jump2" animation (image = visible) it plays as expected. Then when I play the "Jump1" animation next, it plays as expected with no lua error and the image is not visible as expected. hmmm...
My issue #3 has been resolved by loading the new 1.09 runtimes, I hadn't done this and now the json files are read properly.
Hopefully this helps,
Nail